Posted on 07/11/2023 3:14:29 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A Michigan jury has decided that a document handwritten by Aretha Franklin, which was found underneath some couch cushions following her death, is her valid will, as The New York Times reports. The will was discovered in 2019, a year after Franklin’s death from pancreatic cancer, and has been the subject of a dispute between Franklin’s sons, the inheritors of her estate.
The document is dated to 2014, four years after a more detailed will that was drawn up in 2010. Neither was prepared by a lawyer, though the earlier one was notarized. Despite the more informal nature of the later will, a jury decided that the handwritten will was her valid last will and testament after a two-day trial in probate court that took place in Pontiac, Michigan. The 2010 will was found at the same time as the 2014 one, in a locked cabinet in Franklin’s home.
The differences between the two wills are potentially drastic considering the size of Franklin’s estate, which was estimated to be worth $18 million at the time of her death and also includes ongoing revenue from music royalties and licensing. The earlier will laid out weekly and monthly allowances owed to each of Franklin’s four children, and stipulated that two of them “must take business classes and get a certificate or a degree” to inherit from the estate.
The later, now validated one states that three of Franklin’s sons — excluding Clarence Franklin, who court papers indicated was under a guardianship and lives in an assisted living facility — would split her royalties equally, though one sibling, Kecalf Franklin, would inherit a larger portion of Aretha Franklin’s personal probably, including a home in Bloomfield Hills and her personal vehicles.
“I’m very, very happy. I just wanted my mother’s wishes to be adhered to,” Kecalf Franklin said, per Associated Press. “We just want to exhale right now. It’s been a long five years for my family, my children.”
This is crazy.
“....a larger portion of Aretha Franklin’s personal probably.”
So who get her maybe and her perhaps?
They will blow all the money and end selling off all the rights for ready cash upfront. They will all be bankrupt in 5 years.
This Guy’s up for taking her Modembly!
So much for showing Aretha Franklin respect…
It doesn’t matter that it was under her couch cushions. The only thing that matters is that it is her last will.
Well done, to the jury. It’s a shame it took five years and a ton of legal fees for something that could have been settled overnight.
Was this will witnessed by a competent and disinterested party?
That's why trial by a jury of "your peers" is a damn frightful thing.
The 2010 will was notorized.
They’re a chain of fools.
Seems like I remember that handwritten wills don't need to be witnessed or notarized.
*Usually* to be valid a will has to be witnessed and notarized in proper form. However, there is such a thing as a “holograph will” - if it’s entirely in the handwriting of the testator, even if it’s not witnessed, it can be admitted to probate. But the news article doesn’t really say. Still, it sounds like it may have been a holograph will.
Good catch. I just looked it up and there are exceptions in various states for “holographic” (imminent death) wills handwritten without witnesses.
Another reminder to get a will drawn up by a lawyer. It’s hard to believe someone like Aretha Franklin didn’t bother to have it done.
There was a court case years ago, involving a farmer who rolled his tractor, and became pinned underneath. Something like that. He scrawled “All to mother” in blood on a fender before he died, and the court ruled this was a legal last will and testament.
Still, a notarized will should outrank anything found underneath the couch.
Exactly
Was he married?
There are pre-printed Wills and all that stuff available online. Very official.
There’s one problem. The only way to find out if they are any good, is to die, and then see if there’s an issue, by which time it’s too late.
Another common problem is people keep their Will in a safe deposit box. But when someone dies, the bank seals the box. Only the Executor or Executrix can gain access. Power of Attorney won’t cut it. And the Will is what specifies Executor of the Estate. Oops.
I don’t think so, but I’ve no idea. It was a long time ago though.
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